


Unfortunate Pranks

by AgentOfShip



Series: Promptober [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Academy Era, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Promptober, fitzsimmons are bad at pranking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-26 20:47:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20936495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentOfShip/pseuds/AgentOfShip
Summary: Jemma has had enough of Fitz playing pranks so she decides to get a revenge but it doesn't exactly go as planned.Written for Day 7 or Promptober: Playing Pranks :)Beta'd by the wonderful @LibbyWeasley :)





	Unfortunate Pranks

Jemma knocked on Fitz's door with all the calm and composure she could muster. Not hearing an answer or any other sound, she knocked again, just to be sure, then took her key out of her pocket and opened the door. As expected, Fitz wasn't there. He was, most likely, in his mechanical engineering class just like _she_ was supposed to still be in their shared lab for another fifteen minutes. Except Fitz had played another one of his pranks on her and now her lab coat was covered in some weird red goo that she really hoped was just paper and water and nothing toxic. 

They'd agreed to team up to play pranks on the other cadets in their building since it was their last Halloween at the Academy but, for some reason, for the past week, Fitz had decided to play pranks on her and then act all weird about it when she ended up mad at him. First, she'd found the small table in her dorm covered in white foam and the following day, the funeral wreath delivered on her doorstep. She knew he loved Halloween but that one really was too morbid for her taste. And when she thought he was over it, she'd opened the cabinet to get a new pair of gloves and found herself covered in that weird red goo. Her schedule was way too full to spend much time on it but this absurdity had to stop. Retaliation was in order and something quick and simple would have to do. She walked straight to his mini-fridge and took out one of his Coke bottles. She opened it then took the packet of mentos she bought at the vending machine. She stuck two of them in the neck of the bottle before delicately closing it again. Hopefully when he opened it the next time, that would release the mentos and make enough of a mess for him to remember not to ever prank her again.

Satisfied with her work, Jemma put the bottle back on the left side of the fridge's door knowing that, this way, it was the one he would take next. It was all very childish but she couldn't wait to see his face and hair all wet and sticky because of it. That would teach him a lesson. 

Grinning, she quickly left the room, making sure he wasn't around before closing the door behind her and making her way to her room. She didn't have time to go back to the lab now so she supposed she would have to start studying for her SHIELD history exam. Ugh! Maybe Fitz deserved more revenge from her after all.

As she walked past the vending machine again, she wondered if maybe she could grab a snack, other than the leftover mentos, to eat in front of the latest Doctor Who. But she sighed and kept walking. Fitz might be weird and annoying these days but he was still her best friend and it would be much more fun to watch it with him. As everything was. 

Opening the door, she squealed as she was, again, attacked by something falling on her in a thick curtain. It only lasted a few seconds but it still took her a moment to notice that Fitz was in her room, obviously waiting for her, with another one of those weird smiles on his face. 

"What the…" she trailed off, picking up the strong smell of… roses? She thought she'd been attacked by the same red goo that was in the lab and was about to seriously lose her calm but then she looked down and realized she was in fact now partially covered in rose petals. Very pretty, nice smelling, fresh rose petals. She could even make potpourri out of it. Which made her frown even more. 

"Fitz, what the bloody hell is all this? I still don't understand why you decided to prank me in the first place. The red goo was weird but—"

"Red goo?" he repeated, looking sincerely surprised and Jemma rolled her eyes.

"Yes, the red goo I was sprayed with when I opened the cabinet in the lab? Did you plan so many pranks that you forget about them?" 

"Oh… No, but that wasn't how it was supposed—"

"But at least it was annoying, which is the point of a prank, I guess. But now this? It's just weird and kind of… nice." 

"I know, that was the point," Fitz replied, throwing his hands in the air in frustration like he did when he tried to explain something to someone from Ops. Most of the time, she shared this frustration but now, he just wasn't making any sense. 

"What? You felt guilty because of all the pranks and you wanted to make up for it? You could have just stopped to start with and, I don't know, apologized maybe." 

"No, I mean that none of these were pranks, Jemma." 

Jemma's brows would have furrowed even more if that was possible. 

"Last week, I cooked dinner and tried to create a nice atmosphere but the napkins caught fire on the candle and I had to use the extinguisher. Then, the florist delivered the wrong order to your door and then I guess the soap leaked into the paper. It was supposed to be bubbles and paper hearts, not goo," he finished, crossing his arms over his chest petulantly.

Somehow this seemed to make even less sense.

"But Fitz, that sounds almost…"

"Romantic? Yes. Again, that was the point," Fitz said, letting out a nervous chuckle as he plunged his hands deep into the pocket of his… surprisingly nice trousers. She hadn't even noticed yet but now that she gave him a proper look, she realized he was also wearing the light blue shirt they bought together and a nice dark blue tie she'd never seen on him. He looked really quite handsome, not that he didn't always but… But could this mean…

"Fitz, were you trying to-to hum… I don't know how to—"

"Ah, never mind. That was stupid. I'm sorry. I'll clean that up for you and then, I'll let you get back to work," he cut her off, walking towards the door but Jemma stopped him before he could take another step. This was all confusing and surreal but her heart was suddenly beating faster and she just knew that she really wanted to hear him say the words now still floating uncertainly in her brain.

"Fitz, wait," she said, coming to stand between him and the door. "I want to know." 

He didn't say anything for a moment, biting his lower lip as his eyes kept moving from her face to where she was still holding onto his hand gently. She gave him an encouraging smile and that seemed to decide it for him. 

"I think I'm falling in love with you, Jemma," he finally said and her heart did a happy little flip in her chest. "Over the summer, I missed you a lot, I always do anyway. But this time, it felt different and I-I… I tried to tell you but I couldn't find the courage so I decided to… show you. But, as you know now, it didn't go exactly as planned and I'm sorry I made you mad instead. That really wasn't the point but hum… yeah, that's pretty much it." 

"Oh, Fitz," she said, squeezing his hand as a wave of tenderness for her best friend threatened to overwhelm her. There was something naive and almost child-like in the cliched way he did it all and yet it was completely endearing to her. But also, his words seemed incredibly familiar and it was probably because she'd had the exact same thoughts. There'd been a sort of dull ache inside her all summer that she couldn't quite put words to but she knew it disappeared the moment they met at the airport in September.

"So if everything had worked your way, what would you have done next?" she asked, biting her lip not to smile too wide.

"Ask you out to dinner?" he replied tentatively. 

"Okay." 

"Okay?" he repeated, obviously confused by her reaction and she laughed as she took a step closer. 

"I'll go out to dinner with you, Fitz," she whispered like it was a secret. A wonderful little secret she couldn't believe had taken her so long to uncover.

"But did you hear what I said about—"

"Yes, I did. You're my best friend and I love you more than anything, even when you act very strangely, and everything is better with you. I think this—" she said, looking down at their now entwined fingers. "—could also be really nice if we do it together." 

"Yeah?" 

She nodded as her lips pulled into a bright smile, mirroring his expression. His blue eyes were almost sparkling as he looked at her and his lips were red from the way he'd been worrying them and now that he put the idea of "them" in her head, she just felt too curious to resist. Pushing up on her tiptoes, she put one hand on his shoulder and moved forward to press her lips to his. It was soft and warm and they moved their lips in synchrony for just a few seconds before they parted but it was perfect. The sweet promise of what was to come.

"So, what now?" he asked against her lips, eyes still half closed, and Jemma rolled her eyes in amusement at how easy it was to fry his usually brilliant brain. 

"Well, you mentioned dinner and I desperately need saving from studying SHIELD history." 

"Oh… right. Of course. So hum-hum… now?" 

She nodded and Fitz finally seemed to recover some of his brain power as he grabbed his wallet and phone, and put on a jacket she'd only seen him wear on formal occasions that brought out his eyes in an unfair way. When he was ready, Fitz, of course, opened the door for her and surprised her by taking her hand again, intertwining their fingers together as he flashed her an adorably shy smile. Butterflies erupted in her belly. She was going out on a date with her best friend, his hand was wonderfully warm around hers and she might get to kiss him some more before the night was over. It was the most excited she'd been in a very long time. She couldn't believe it had taken Fitz playing those not-actually-pranks on her for her to realize how obvious they were together. Which reminded her... 

"Oh, before I forget, Fitz. Don't open that bottle of Coke on the left side of your fridge."


End file.
